Photo: Via @anniseparker.Annise Parker (center), with wife, Kathy Hubbard, and their three children (far left and right).

From Barbara Jordan to Ann Richards to Wendy Davis, Texas has certainly had no shortage of gutsy female politicians. We'd like to add Houston mayor Annise Parker to that list, assuming marrying your life partner of 23 years in an intimate wedding is gutsy and not just, you know, trying to live your life. For the record: Parker and her bride, Kathy Hubbard, both wore white, the bouquets were pink and coral, and some Texas Republicans are pretty red-faced with anger.

"This is a mayor who is bringing California and New York values to Texas, and these are values Texans don't subscribe to," Harris County Republican Party chairman Jared Woodfill has said of the Palm Springs, CA ceremony held yesterday. Woodfill is currently suing Houston for its ruling to extend health and life insurance benefits to the spouses of legally married city employees, regardless of sexual orientation. Guess that means he won't be sending a wedding gift?

Though 57-year-old Parker, the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city, had originally declared that she wouldn't get married until gay unions became legal in her conservative home state, she clearly had a change of heart. "I am privileged to now be the wife of the woman I have loved for more than 2 decades," the Democrat announced on Twitter. "I couldn't be happier. We said our vows today."

Aww. Ignore the haters, Annise, and enjoy that honeymoon. When you get back, let's see what you can do to help your gay constituents say "I do," too. (Houston Chronicle)